Battles Between Friends - The Stories of Veterans
by AeroTagachirane
Summary: War. All out war on several fronts. In Aztec temples, dust forsaken cities, and broken, abandoned offices; this is the story told in First Person from Jason and Blake; written by two authors, DignifiedPeach [who does not have a account, rather Microsoft Word] and AeroTagachirane. We hope you enjoy this installment of Lore-Friendly combat and action.
1. de-aztec Part 1: Terrorist

"Alright boys, get in and get out. We want as few casualties on our side as possible. If any of those Counter-Terrorists come? You know what to do. For whatever reason they always send five people and we always send five people, so as long as everyone carries their own weight we should be fine."

"Yes sir!"

We geared up and took off towards bomb site A, though we paused before the bridge. Emmett peeked out, AWP at the ready. I made sure my M249 was at the ready and glanced over to the others. One of my teammates had a smoke grenade at the ready, another had a Molotov. The last guy had his Berettas out. I carefully walked to the door behind us, M249 at the ready and listening for any Counter-Terrorists. With all this rain it should be pretty easy to hear footsteps splashing in the water. Emmett called us over saying it was clear and we slowly went across the bridge towards A site. Emmett stayed relatively back in case we needed cover fire. Jefferson threw his smoke grenade, and there was a distinct sound as it impacted with something and came flying back to us. We panicked as we were smoked by our own grenade and ran through the door, guns at the ready. Fortunately we weren't blinded and I found myself straddling the gun of a Counter-Terrorist.

"Hey there, kid." Bullets flung from the muzzle of my M249, turning what used to be the Counter-Terrorist's head to mush. I heard my team falling back and dropped a flashbang as I fled. Brad threw his Molotov at where he last spotted a Counter-Terrorist. Emmett cringed. He'd taken a couple shots to the leg. Shots rang out and a lucky shot caught him in the side of the head. He tumbled off the bridge to his doom. I sent Jefferson and Brad down to get the sniper rifle as me and the last guy ran to B site. Kevin ran towards where the Counter-Terrorists would exit towards B, Berettas at the ready. I motioned to Kevin as I crouched down to start entering in the bomb code.

"7...3...5 5..." Gunfire rang out as Jefferson caught the glint of a Counter-Terrorists gun and shot. He called out through the earpiece that Brad went down. Jefferson called out a retreat, running towards the underpass towards B while the Counter-Terrorist that was left standing took cover. I went back down after making sure that the coast was clear.

"7..3..5 5..6..0..8. Bomb's planted!" I muttered a curse when I found out I was on the wrong frequency. I hoped to all heck that it wasn't the frequency the Counter-Terrorists were using... I changed back to my frequency and called it out again. I glanced to Kevin. He had his Berettas lined up. He muttered silently as Jefferson's head became red mist... Kevin turned the corner and opened fire. He caught one of the Counter-Terrorists in the head. I was on my way around to A to catch them from behind. I slowed to a walk, knife in hand. I heard a Deagle go off just as my knife met a Counter-Terrorist's back. I ran over and planted my foot on the last Counter-Terrorist's last good arm. I could see how badly his right shoulder was out of whack.

"Any last words?" I said as I pointed my Tec-9 to his head. I guess my voice was familiar to him, since he gave me a strange look.

"You... You could be... You could do good... Why did you become a terrorist... Blake...?"

I stared down at him for a moment, before pulling off my mask with my free hand.

"How do you know my name... Wait... Jason?"

I got off his arm and plopped down next to him, Tec-9 still at the ready just in case...

"...I failed the entry exam. They didn't want me, so I took up arms against them. Guess they regret that decision now, huh?" I couldn't help but chuckle after this. I grabbed him by his good shoulder, dragging him away.

"There's no time to defuse, but I can't just leave you here to die."

"There's a medic bag... At CT's entrance... Past double doors..."

I just stared down at him as the bomb went off. The explosion barely affected us as I grinned.

"At least, I can't let you die to the bomb, anyways."

I lined my Tec-9 up to his head, finger on the trigger.

Bang.

Suddenly, the dark lighting brightening as we entered what seemed to be purgatory. I saw the wounds on Jason's body healing up, and suddenly everyone but Jason disappeared. A voice familiar to neither of us sounded off.

"Terrorists win! Beginning next round. Selecting location..."

When I could see again, I was standing in a rather dusty location... A ramp to my right, tunnels nearby to my left.


	2. de-aztec Part 2: Counter-Terrorist

"Where are we?" I asked. "Some sort of Aztec temple?"

"I dunno. Orders just came in, dispatched us here…I _think_ this is the right spot." A response came through my earpiece.

Stones littered the ground, the remains of a temple-like structure barely standing. The truck that had dropped us at this ancient site had already left us, only a dust trail to be seen.

"Lock and load boys, we're going in. Apparently there's a terrorist force hiding here-"

"Ugh, not again!" The groans dug into my ear, "Please don't let this be like that office mission! We sucked at that one."

A sound came from behind us. Rustling in the dark, lush grass. "What was that?" I asked, startled.

"Probably nothing."

"Guys, we need to get in. We've gathered reports that a Terrorist movement has dispatched a small team of about five to drop a bomb at one of two sites." I said, pulling a small GPS out of my pocket, the rest of the team doing the same. I'd formed a really tight bond with these guys; I didn't want to lose any of them. "We need to stick together. Move from site A to site B, don't split up. The more of us that are there, the safer we'll be and the more guns we'll have. Let's sattle up and move out people!"

I jogged to the weapon depot that the truck had dropped with us. Inside were five sets of weapons, each of which corresponded to our strengths. I grabbed my AUG and Kevlar helmet and armor set. I belted a few HE grenades as well, along with a flashbang for an added advantage. The rest of my team grabbed their weapons that were in their strong suits; one grabbed a P90, another just grabbed Dual Berettas. We all gathered up in a tight group, like that of children. In our childhood we would always run around, playing pretend cops and robbers. We didn't expect that our group would eventually play in a deadlier, real consequence version.

We began heading out. Guided by flares, the rain made seeing thing difficult. The only way we could tell our enemies from shrubbery was that of gunfire.

We walked carefully to the door, gesturing quietly, _flashbang out._ I hurled it behind the door. The flashbang backfired. "Take cover!" I screamed. My eyes burned, my ears ringing; I knew the rest of my team was experiencing the same things. I shook my head, propping my gun up to fire at any movement. I admit; I was in subliminal fear. Total, utter, fear. I heard a yelp as I shot a terrorist, probably in the leg, as I was aiming relatively low. I heard a scream from one of my team as well, a terrorist neck and neck with him, now my teammate missing his neck.

I shook my head. This was going badly. "FIRE!" I yelled. "EMPTY YOUR CLIPS!" We shot continuously-until yet another flashbang went off. I dropped my gun and scraped at my eyes. When I could open them and see, I saw a large vat of fire at the feet of one of my teammates. I tackled him out of the fire, swatting at the Kevlar on his lower calf. "Thank you, sir." He said respectfully.

"Alright guys, regroup!" I said. Me and only three guys were left alive, and only one terrorist body was visible; beneath us about 100 feet. "Reload your clips guys, they're probably heading towards B." We all reloaded, anticipating another round of combat. Timothy and I travelled towards the bridge; a bridge that had survived centuries and definitely one I didn't trust. I took a sniping position. I shot a terrorist in the neck, the terrorist only delivering two bullets to our side. A second one delivered a sniper shot to my shoulder. The impact of the bullet forced me to duck behind cover; deep breathing. Ringing in my ears. I would have died if it hit more left.

"Move in guys!" I shouted through my mic. We pushed through the bridge, us three vs. theirs. "Bomb's planted!" I heard over my earpiece. I waited a second. "They planted the bomb guys, the bomb's at b!"

We took cover as we were running; me taking sniper view with the AWP of a fallen terrorist. I shot a terrorist's head. Blood spraying over a few barrels. I ducked behind cover, cursing. The recoil of my gun had destroyed my shoulder. If it wasn't broken already, it was now. I pulled my Desert Eagle out of its holster on my hip. I held it in my left hand. One of my teammates dropped due to Beretta fire. I'd never shot my Deagle before; but the recoil was catastrophic. Sure, the bullet met his heart almost instantly, but the force of it ripping through his flesh was intense. So much power in just one bullet. I sat back down. My arm screaming in pain.

A terrorist came towards me. I tried aiming my pistol at him, but then he stepped on my good arm; the one with the deagle. I sputtered out a curse. I spat out blood.

"Any last words?" he said, pointing what looked like a Tec-9 at my head. I looked at him. _His voice… it seems familiar… _

I coughed more blood out of my mouth. "You….you could be…You could do good…Why did you become a terrorist…Blake…?" I wiped my mouth with my closed fist, blood flowing freely from my shoulder wound.

He took off his mask.

"How do you know my name?" He paused. "Wait…Jason?"

I felt pressure leaving my arm. He stepped back, kneeling beside me.

"I failed the entry exam. They didn't want me, so I took up arms against them. Guess they regret that decision now, huh?" He chuckled.

"There's no time to defuse, but I can't just leave you here to die." He said, dragging me away from the bombsite.

I choked blood out of my mouth. "There's a medic bag…at CT's entrance…past double doors…"

He stared down at me. The sound of the bomb flooded my ears but the ringing faded quickly. He smiled…ominously.

"At least, I can't let you die to the bomb, anyways."

Blake pointed his Tec-9 at my head. I turned my head, closing my eyes, ready to accept death. The sound of the gunshot was the last noise I heard before everything went dark.

There was a bright light. I opened my eyes, blinking to the harsh light. _I'm not dead? _I thought. I looked down at my shoulder. The tattered uniform I was wearing…my Silver badge with a two on it quickly changing to one. My shoulder healed, and I flexed my now healed ligament. The bone, muscle and skin now worked as fluently before. I examined the room. The dead bodies of my fallen teammates and enemies disappeared, leaving only me and Blake behind. An electronic voice rang out above us; no microphone or speakers to be seen. "Terrorists win. Beginning next round. Selecting location."

I looked around, and when I closed my eyes, a split second passed, and I stood up from a kneeling position… In a city covered in sand.


	3. de-dust2 Part 1: Counter-Terrorist

_I remember this place…I came here with my dad when he came back from the fight with the Taliban…He called this place Dust two, probably the second of the areas of war he took place in. Jeez. I'd come here close to 15 years old, during my adolescent years. Blake came with us on that trip. We built a bunch of little castles…then we found an unarmed grenade and put it in one. Then we ran for our lives. Luckily we're still here today. Slight wounds came from the after effects, but we were overall okay._

I figured we were going to war, again with the Terrorists. They were moving everywhere. I looked to my left and my right, and saw my team. They were suiting up. Marshal, Rhondy, Derrick, and Kaelen were gathered; I thought they died in the last battle. But here they were, suiting up and getting ready to run into battle. I grabbed an AWP from the pile of guns along with a Desert Eagle; my sharpshooter setup. I was sure Blake was still out there; on the opposing side. I had to win this round to regain my dignity.

I set up at the sniping position at long. My gun mounted and ready to shoot. Then I heard a sniper down mid as well, and I heard a curse coming from Rhondy's feed; he'd got shot in the foot; minor injury, lots of blood.

I sniped at a stray terrorist coming to long. Headshot, instant death, minimal screaming. I waited a few seconds to affirm that no one else was coming through A, and headed towards B. Marshal screamed into the feed. "They're at cat! They're at-"His voice was cut short by the gunfire of a P90. I turned from my path and headed under the bridge, drawing a deagle. It was time for me to do something really stupid. I covered my eyes when a 'nade came under the bridge with me, afraid it was a flashbang. It was only a smoke and I pushed my way through it. Someone was definitely up there. I stepped on a pile of abandoned boxes. I began jumping on them. Good thing they're backs were towards me. One, then two guys fell to immediate headshots from my Desert Eagle. _Man, that gun is good._ I ducked to enemy fire. I heard over my earpiece. "Coming to A." said Derrick.

"It's about time." I said, shaking my head.

"I'm hit!" Derrick said. Kaelen, Rhondy and I were the only one's alive as dual berrettas rang out. Kaelen was hit moments later.

Infuriated, I cut over to long, walking to the bombsite. I wasn't shooting correctly; I was acting out in pure rage. I shot a terrorist at the bombsite, headshot. I heard an AWP shot ring past my ears as I ducked behind two barrels. I pulled my AWP out to return fire. Rhondy began walking down A. I yelled in my earpiece. "RHONDY, NO!" His limp body was soaked in the blood from his head wound. I aimed at the Terrorist while he was distracted. I shot his four times in the leg, three missing. He collapsed I ran to him. I stuck my knife in his leg. He was out cold. I didn't want to kill him. I went back to A to defuse the bomb, and it just about activated when I cut the correct cord. I sat back, exasperated. This wasn't supposed to happen that way. The game wasn't over; I had to kill the last terrorist. I pulled out my AWP and my shot connected with Blake's skull. I sat back, rubbing my now dusty forehead, the dust quickly turned into thick mud from sweat and tears. I was all about that thug life, but obviously I wasn't prepared for it.

"Congratulations Jason Jackson. You have aced this round, and have achieved the trophy for your team. You've earned your Silver II badge back." The silver Roman numeral I changed instantly back to a II.

I laughed. All of this for a trophy? I would have to talk to my General Gabe Newell about this. We all knew we called him Gaben behind his back. And that was for a reason. My victory was confirmed.

Again I blinked. The room that felt like death. I returned to the forsaken room, Blake and I again together. It looked like an office was forming around us. A mask formed around my face, the rough wool rubbing against my flesh. We were switching teams. I seemed to always be defending the objective.


End file.
